Chapter 62: I Feel Like Some Misunderstanding Is Arising...
“Be careful! If he is really the White Demonic Sword, he will have an accomplice with him!”
Amidst the majority who were surprised to hear my alias, the young lady from the Qingcheng Sect, who had realized the enemy’s identity, urgently shouted.
Even without her warning, I was already sensing another presence.
Whether they intended to launch a surprise attack, a presence was stealthily digging into the blind spot of my vision.
‘Fast?’
Although they had launched a surprise attack by capitalizing on the advantage of the situation itself, the sword of the White Demonic Sword was basically closer to being fierce and violent.
‘This one is damp and stealthy.’
I could understand the reason why the young lady of the Qingcheng Sect had become urgent. She also knew who the accomplice with the White Demonic Sword was. And that person seemed to be skilled in surprise attacks.
Just as predicted, a sword extending silently in an instant came into view.
Although the senses of my five organs were clearly feeling this person’s movements and sword, it was another feeling when looking with my eyes.
Should I say it felt like showing up before my eyes instantaneously like a phantom?
Because I had Master Zhang Sanfeng’s Listening Force and Master Heavenly Demon’s synesthesia, I could deal with this kind of attack in a near-perfect manner and remain calm; otherwise, even a decent expert would have suffered a setback at this level.
*Phakang!*
“Hmph!”
The opponent, who pulled his body back immediately upon the failure of the surprise attack, drew his sword in the air.
*Pararak!*
Along with the sound of flapping wings, a sharp energy extended from the tip of the sword and surged forward.
It was a technique of launching the energy gathered on the sword to attack an enemy at a far distance.
He blatantly avoided a head-on collision.
‘Is this what the martial arts used by assassins feel like?’
I thought that it would be even more threatening if they hid in the darkness and launched a surprise attack.
Though, he was not my opponent.
‘Whether it is night or day, it is not to the extent of escaping my senses.’
The heaviness of the Heavy Earth Divine Art.
The steadfastness possessed by the divine power of the earth.
The hardness through the divine power of metal.
My fist, in which all of these were combined, ruthlessly struck the flying sword energy.
*Kararang! Kakhang!*
The sword energy, which was said to cut even steel like mud, shattered like thin ice.
‘Cold?’
However, that process was peculiar.
The shattered sword energy was truly cold like ice.
“Yin-Cold Qi?”
It was not a simple illusion. White frost settled on my hand that had shattered the sword energy.
“The Black Demonic Sword… The Black and White Double Demons!”
The scream of the young lady of the Qingcheng Sect confirmed the opponent’s identity.
The Black Demonic Sword looked at the result created by his sword energy, my arms, and nodded his head in satisfaction.
“I expected those Nine Sects bastards would surely come targeting this mountain fortress. I thought I would be able to watch a funny show of the Sichuan area turning chaotic if I cut off the heads of a few decent guys, but I did not expect a fellow like you to get caught.”
His tongue is long. It was an attitude with leisure.
‘Is it because of the Yin-Cold Qi?’
If so, it was understandable. Yin-Cold Qi was an energy that withered the opponent just by touching it. Since I had struck it recklessly, he was thinking that I must have suffered great damage.
“You are heavily mistaken.”
Aunt Han San-wol’s Yin-Cold Qi was to the extent of turning the entire place where her gaze landed into midwinter.
Having experienced even such Yin-Cold Qi, would I fall for this kind of sloppy trick?
[Indeed, it is as you say.]
Whether he heard my small murmur, Master Bodhidharma chimed in.
[However, there is an interesting part. The sword path drawn by that fellow Black Demonic Sword when he launched the sword energy aligned with the sword technique of the fellow White Demonic Sword. In this master’s view, the foundation of the martial arts learned by those two is not unrelated to each other.]
‘Come to think of it…’
Although the two swords seemed different, they had many similarities.
Was it like looking at two sides of a coin? There was a part where they were compatible with each other.
‘…Interlocking?’
[It was probably originally a single martial art. It would be a technique of wielding left and right double swords while handling Yin and Yang Qi. If it could be displayed properly, its power would be grand, but it would not be a martial art to be achieved with ordinary talent.]
Certainly, the Black Demonic Sword was a left-handed sword, and the White Demonic Sword was a right-handed sword.
At Master Bodhidharma’s words that it was double-sword play, I combined the trajectories of the two swords in my mind. Then, to a surprising extent, each trajectory filled the other’s empty spot.
It meant that although they were strong enough to be called experts even now, if they had learned it properly, they would have become experts worthy of shaking the world with their fame.
‘But because it is a martial art that cannot be achieved through general methods, they must have split it like that.’
The person who created that martial art must have been someone of a peculiar constitution.
These two were ultimately nothing but half-pieces.
“By now, the Yin-Cold Qi must be gradually corroding your qi and blood. Do you feel the dread of the Yin-Cold Qi spreading inside your body?”
“Ha?!”
Since the essence was visible, the little tension he had was dying down, yet he was trying to make people laugh with such ridiculous words.
They are fellows who do not know their place.
“Corrosion my foot. You talk too much for mere half-pieces.”
“What?”
The expression of the Black Demonic Sword, who had been looking at me like a prey caught in a trap, hardened in an instant like a person whose sore spot was hit. He tried to hide his inner feelings by putting strength in his face belatedly, but it was useless.
*Kararang!*
At the sight of me casually shaking off the frost gathered on my hands, his mouth fell wide open.
“M-Impossible!”
No one says the rock has frozen just because frost briefly settled on the rock.
Realizing what the state of my hands—which were clean without even a sign of being flushed red, let alone frostbite—meant, the Black Demonic Sword shouted as if screaming.
“I cannot believe this! Even those who have trained internal energy for decades avoid coming into contact with my Yin-Cold Qi! Just how deep and profound is your internal energy!”
The shock seemed to be quite large. His pupils were trembling as if an earthquake had occurred.
“Sorcery… Is it sorcery?”
How surprised he must have been, that an unorthodox figure even talked about sorcery.
“Pfft! Pf-hahaha!”
Baek Mu-ho, who had been quietly watching how things were going, finally could not hold back and burst into laughter.
‘It is just that my energy is the natural enemy of Yin-Cold Qi.’
The divine power I received thanks to my masters’ consideration is an energy refined from the limits of natural power. It is a strength that one would encounter only when about to ascend to heaven after devoting one’s entire life to martial arts. In fact, Gold-furred Ape, who encountered that strength, had ascended to heaven as well.
Because it was such an energy, it pulled out a surprising amount of strength even with a small amount.
Moreover, since it was the natural enemy, there was no way it would work.
An ordinary Yin-Cold Qi could not be my opponent.
Naturally, from a common-sense perspective, it could look like sorcery.
Otherwise…
“If it is an internal energy to the point of being completely unaffected by the Black Demonic Sword’s Yin-Cold Qi… Isn’t it almost at the level of the Elders?”
“No way. That kid’s internal energy is as strong as the Elders’?”
“Amazing…”
I must look like a monster.
Just as the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were looking at me now.
‘I feel like a misunderstanding is brewing…’
Though misunderstanding is free, this is too excessive.
The Elder level of the Nine Great Sects.
If this keeps up, my martial prowess might be known as a level that could easily steam and eat even the Elders of the Nine Great Sects.
Because I had felt the sword of Adept Jabu directly with my skin at the Mount Hua Sect, I knew very well how absurd that statement was.
Let alone a match, I barely survived by concentrating solely on dodging here and there like a mouse, so where are they comparing me to?
“Come to think of it, I heard he almost toyed with the Mount Hua Sect’s Elder! I thought the rumors about the Young Heavenly Dragon’s martial prowess were too bloated… to think they were true…”
Eh? Excuse me? What does that mean?
When did I toy with the Mount Hua Sect’s Elder?
‘Hey! Baek Mu-ho! Why are you staying quiet? Don’t stay quiet! Mount Hua is being treated like some nobody!’
If I were not facing the Black and White Double Demons, I would have cleared up the misunderstanding step by step, but the situation did not allow it.
If so, even Baek Mu-ho, who was standing in the rear and watching with his hands folded, should have done it instead, but this fellow was grinning for some reason.
[Well, did you not dodge all of the sword strikes of the child called Jabu? You barely dodged them, but from the perspective of the onlookers, it could have looked that way.]
Pardon?
[I am saying that it could have looked that way from a third party’s perspective. The Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step could also look like… a quite amazing martial art to the kids of the lower world.]
‘That must be true. Since even Master Zhang Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma admired it… What the hell?’
Hearing Master Bodhidharma speak from a third-party perspective, I got a grasp of how things were turning out.
‘It looked that way in other people’s eyes?’
I realized an absurd fact.
In the meantime, whether they heard the conversation of the Qingcheng Sect’s disciples, the faces of the Black and White Double Demons also slowly rotted.
Especially the Black Demonic Sword.
“Hmph! If Yin-Cold Qi does not work, I will simply cut you down with the sword!”
Unlike the Black Demonic Sword, the White Demonic Sword burned with fighting spirit.
He did not seem to accept that my martial prowess was at the Elder level of the Nine Great Sects.
Since we had directly exchanged blows, he must have thought something was lacking.
“Yes! Let us find out!”
As the White Demonic Sword rushed forward recklessly, the hesitating Black Demonic Sword also followed.
“Do not let your guard down! The joint coordination technique of the Black and White Double Demons is notorious in Sichuan!”
‘It must be.’
At the shout of the young lady of the Qingcheng Sect, I nodded my head.
Unless Master Bodhidharma saw it wrong, it would have originally been a single martial art.
[Since it was originally a single martial art, it would look like a grand coordination technique to those who do not know.]
It meant they would be able to exert the original power to some extent.
To some extent.
[However, the sword displayed with double swords and the sword displayed by two people cannot have the same trajectory. It is because restrictions arise in the range of motion of the sword held in a person’s hand. In addition, no matter how much they coordinate their breathing, the thoughts of two people cannot become identical, so this too will become a gap.]
For a person using a sword, the start of an attack is from the shoulder. The shoulder position when one person uses double swords and the shoulder position when two people display a coordination technique side by side cannot help but be different.
No matter how well they try to interlock, a difference inevitably arises in the trajectory.
Although it is a difference hard to discover for those who do not know the origin of the martial art, it was not the case for me.
While the swords of the Black and White Double Demons crossed, the minute gap within the interlocking was clearly visible through the Taiji Line.
And another problem, their breathing.
‘The reason why the coordination technique of the Black and White Double Demons is said to be scary seems to be because of the power possessed by the characteristics of the martial art rather than the precision of the coordination technique itself. As expected, their form is not perfect.’
In the end, the strength of the Black and White Double Demons seemed to be utilizing their unique energies well rather than the refinement of their martial arts. If one could handle that unique energy, they were not very scary opponents.
I threw my body into the gap of the Black and White Double Demons that was clearly visible to my eyes.
The divine power of metal settled in one hand, and the divine power of the earth settled in the other hand.
At the center of it was the Heavy Earth Divine Art.
‘The White Demonic Sword with the divine power of metal.’
*Khang!*
‘The Black Demonic Sword with the divine power of the earth.’
*Ttang!*
I deflected the two swords with both hands.
Normally, around this point, the opponent would have been smashed by the fierce White Demonic Sword while their qi and blood were frozen by the Black Demonic Sword’s Yin-Cold Qi.
*Ttatatang!*
“Khuk!”
“Kack! You young brat!”
I pushed forward instead.
Despite the dangerous situation where they seemed about to be split at any moment, the Black and White Double Demons, who were struggling not to be pushed back, stabbed their swords with all their might.
The moment the black and white energies bound into a single point at the tip of the swords stabbing straight ahead.
‘Ultimate Extreme Strike!’
A heavy force like a blunt weapon that crushes a protruding nail gathered in my hand.
Gathering the third stage of the Heavy Earth Divine Art, the divine power of metal, and the divine power of the earth that were in operation, I extended them with the technique of the Ultimate Extreme Strike!
*Jjeeeeeng!*
It was not a force that mere scoundrels like the Black and White Double Demons could handle.
I shattered the two swords like thin ice.
“Keo-heok!”
“Kool-huck! Kack!”
As the swords containing internal energy shattered, the backlash seemed to return, causing the Black and White Double Demons to cough up blood.
Even while his body was shaking heavily as if he had suffered internal injuries, the Black Demonic Sword threw a sphere he pulled from his chest and detonated it.
*Peong!*
A purple mist spewed out at a rapid speed.
Although it blocked the vision like a smokescreen, it was not to the extent of dulling my senses. I dug in quickly and struck.
*Peok!!*
“Kkeok!”
I did not know who it was, but a clear sensation of something breaking was felt on my fist.
“Crazy bastard! This is a poison mist containing extreme poison! To jump into this without fear!”
“Oh, is that so?”
The one who got smashed seemed to be the White Demonic Sword.
At the Black Demonic Sword’s threatening words about poison, a smirk slipped out.
[Tsk tsk. If it is a poison mist, it must be something that ruins the body by disrupting the circulation of the five elements, so how could it work on my disciple who possesses two of the five elements’ divine powers?]
Just like the Yin-Cold Qi, this type of poison was not a threat to me. It was a guarantee from none other than Master Bodhidharma.
Because they seemed to hope I would be frightened by the poison mist and retreat, I dug in with even more confidence.
*Peoseok!*
“Kack!”
As I followed the sound reaching my ears and the sensation I felt and struck, a sound like a watermelon breaking occurred.
Judging by the sound heard and the feeling of the strike, the sight after this poison mist disappeared would probably not be something highly recommended for the people around.
“Since it is deep in the mountains, the corpses will be handled by the mountain itself…”
“Ugh!”
“Ahack!”
“Kool-huck! Kool-huck!!”
I was thinking that the cleanup of the hideous things could be left to the self-purification activities of nature, when suddenly a tearing scream was heard from behind.
The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect had been swept away by the poison mist that had suddenly spread out.
Baek Mu-ho was also within that range, but like a fellow who had shared the divine power of the earth with me, he was perfectly fine.
Since he had not even a speck of effect, he did not seem to believe the word poison mist itself. That was why he was looking at the screaming disciples of the Qingcheng Sect with puzzled eyes.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“It’s a poison mist.”
“Really? It’s nothing special, though?”
Baek Mu-ho tilted his head. It was a sight that the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect would have denounced as extremely obnoxious if they had seen it.
Although I also wanted to smack him once for various reasons.
“We do have to save them.”
It seemed saving them was the priority for now.
Even if he was an annoying punk, it would be awkward to treat Lee Do-cheon or the young lady of the Qingcheng Sect coldly.